Jane Stetson: The Stereotypes Of Women

According to The Journal of the American Medical Association, women experience clinical depression at twice the rate of men. A two to one ratio exists regardless of racial or ethnic background or economic status. The lifetime prevalence of major depression is 20-26% for women and 8-12% for men. During the Victorian era during 1837 to 1901 women were traditionally viewed as a possession and not an individual. As they held the stereotype of staying at home and dedicating themselves to feminine duties, such as cleaning and cooking, they did not play any roles in academic thinking or a worthy education. But not all women were trapped in the stereotype of being property than being their own individual self. Some chose to speak out to let the world

Being constantly alone and prohibited to leave her bedroom, she begins to start being delusional with nothing to occupy her time, but to write. With “barred windows for little children and rings and things in the walls” the bedroom is in similarity to a prison cell. (page 648). While John is keeping her away from reality, Jane begins to feel as if the right thing and she won’t be able to get out. In the quote, “I am sitting by the window now, up in this atrocious nursery, and there is nothing to hinder my writing as much as I please, save lack of strength” (page 649). Jane saves herself by expressing how she feels about specific aspects of her life in writing. Being with herself, and only herself, in a tiny bedroom, Jane writes to save her strength. As it was common in the ninetieth century for women to be property to men, this made it easy for the husband’s to completely isolate their lives by controlling their lives. Stetson writes, “So now she is gone, and the servants are gone, and the things are gone, and there is nothing left but that great bed-stead nailed down, with the canvas mattress we found it on it” (page 655). Everyone who was once present in the house has now disappeared and Jane is left to cope by herself. All she has left is her bed and her own thoughts. The idea of her trapped will not cure her “sickness” or depression that she is fighting. Jane is

The first mention of inferiority within the story is the overall idea that John is supposedly taking care of her, but not in the right way. The protagonist allowed herself to be inferior to her husband, while he isolated her away from reality. Stetson presents the woman in the wallpaper as being a symbol of isolation. Being the same way, the narrator is imprisoned in a nursery. As the narrator is in a controlled state of mind, John begins to patronize her. While writing is very important to the narrator, it is the opposite for him. He views her writing as not an important part of her, and does not care for her correctly. John constantly refers to the narrator with the word “little” to show the readers that he is superior to her and that she is in less power. Stetson writes, “I am glad my case is not serious! But these nervous troubles are dreadfully depressing. John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him” (page 649). Referring to the theme of mental illness of the narrator, male dominance is also present. John terminates her suffering of depression more as “nervous troubles.” As John believes that her case is “not serious”, the narrator also begins to believe this to be true, due to the superior John has over her. Treating the narrator as though she is incompetent and not capable of taking care of herself, John does not care